Blonde hair looks dark and greasy

RisingMoon

I've been cowashing for a few days now using Loreal curl cleansing conditioner and then Tresemme Naturals as a RO and leave in. I've been playing around with using a different mousse or gel (CG approved) each day to see if I can find one I like.

The problem is that my hair now looks dark. It always looks wet rather than its usual blonde color. By morning of day 2 my hair looks like a completely greasy mess.

Is there any way to combat this? I realize there might be an adjustment period for my scalp but I'd like to be blonde. If I wet my hair any amount the second day my hair looks even more greasy so I have to actually co-wash to look moderately presentable.

Any ideas?

etos

How long are you cowashing? It will probably take some weeks before your scalp is used to your shampoo-free diet. If you use shampoo, everytime you strip your head from its natural oil (sebum), and your skin will work harder to produce sebum. So if you are just started, you might want to give it some time before you decide if you have to do something different.
If you don't see a difference after a couple of weeks (maybe 4-6 weeks?), you can try ty use low-poo. This is a shampoo, but with mild surfactants like Cocamidopropyl Betaine.

It can also be the case that you use too much leave-in, conditioner, oil and/or gel and that makes your hair look greasy. If you are fine haired, you can't use as much products in your hair as other curlies can (or even need).

If those things all don't work, you can also check if your hair is in need of some proteïn. Keep in mind the moisture/proteïn balance.

Good luck!

wavydaze

I've seen other blondes complain about this issue. Your hair is more moisturized now. Wet hair is darker.

You may need to switch to a low-poo you like.

Firefox7275

Try using a very light co-wash product, one that is useless at conditioning, rinsing with massage until your hair is literally squeaky clean. Do not expect your hair to feel well conditioned after washing, just clean and not stripped. I rate Inecto, I use loads and build up a light lather with massage. Seems to me many of the dedicated cleansing conditioners are more conditioning and less cleansing.

Then use less of a lightweight leave in conditioner - even diluting it a little with water - you may not even need rinse out and leave in. If your hair actually looks greasy your routine is too rich/ heavy.

RisingMoon

Firefox7275 wrote: »

Try using a very light co-wash product, one that is useless at conditioning, rinsing with massage until your hair is literally squeaky clean. Do not expect your hair to feel well conditioned after washing, just clean and not stripped. I rate Inecto, I use loads and build up a light lather with massage. Seems to me many of the dedicated cleansing conditioners are more conditioning and less cleansing.

Then use less of a lightweight leave in conditioner - even diluting it a little with water - you may not even need rinse out and leave in. If your hair actually looks greasy your routine is too rich/ heavy.

Are there any drugstore/Sally brands of conditioner you'd suggest?

I think my hair is looking darker because it's holding lots of moisture (which is leading me to believe that it's very porous.) I think my hair took about 5 or 6 hours to completely dry and there are only a few sections that look blonde as opposed to brunette. I don't mind having darker hair, but I do mind having greasy looking hair. When I was brushing my hair straight and letting it air dry I could go 2 days between washings which I'd like to get to again, but I'm ok with doing it daily if needed.

Firefox7275

I am in the UK and, as I said, I use Inecto which is super cheap and leaves my porous hair literally squeaky clean. It did take time to perfect my technique and product amounts. Popular co-wash products in the US are VO5 and Suave Naturals.

If your hair is porous it would both take up too much water and lose water again quickly so would not be overly moisturised once dry. That does not explain the greasies, that is too much of your leave in products or too rich products or inadequate wash technique.

RisingMoon

My hair is blonde today!!

Yesterday I just cowashed and did RO conditioner. No leave-in and no products. I wanted to see how my hair would react on its own.

1. Dried in about an hour or so
2. Crazy frizzy
3. Waves/curls fell out
4. I was blonde

These led me adjust my routine today. I think the reason I don't look blonde is that the products and LI make it take forever for my hair to dry. I used a diffuser today and once it was fully dry I was blonde again. I noticed that the underlayers still dried fast and didn't have a gel cast on them even though they were coated, I'm pretty sure I have porous hair under there.

I bought some Alberto V05 today to try for cowashing and maybe use it as a lighter weight LI.